TROPICAL Storm Mindy formed yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the northwest coast of Florida, the US National Hurricane Center said.

The storm was located 150km west-southwest of the city of Apalachicola yesterday evening and was expected to make landfall in the southern US state later last night, the Miami-based organisation said.

Mindy was moving northeast at about 33.8km per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 64.4km per hour, the NHC said, and was expected to maintain that course in the coming days.

The centre of the storm will cross the Florida panhandle, the part of the state bordering Alabama and Georgia, on Wednesday night.

The NHC issued a tropical storm warning for that region’s coastline, between the city of Mexico Beach and the Steinhatchee River.

Heavy rain is forecast for the panhandle, as well as southern Georgia and South Carolina, and is expected to last through this morning, according to the NHC. – AFP, September 9, 2021.